What a week. First I stopped in Washington, D.C. with Ayelet Schiffman and T.I. to visit WPGC and see PD Steve Davis and MD Angelique. The artist played four new tracks from his forthcoming LP and did a Q&A with contest winners… I also attended the Radio One meetings. Along with a number of label folk, most of the Radio One chain was in attendance. It’s always great to see Jay Stevens (WKYS) and Leo Baldwin (WHHH PD), among others… I then made my way to NYC, where the Clear Channel meetings took place, and hit the cocktail party at the penthouse/rooftop of the Dream Downtown hotel, hosted by Tom Poleman and Bob Pittman. Bob spoke first, providing a more macro perspective (how CC has more reach to Hispanic listeners than Univision, more African American reach then BET, same % of audience as Facebook with millennials). He also spoke about how, at the root of everything, they love music. Tom spoke more about the two new plans they had wanted to implement since the last CC meetings: On The Verge and the iHeartRadio Awards. He spoke about the success they had with OTV artists like Clean Bandit, Sam Smith and Iggy Azalea. He gave a rundown on the milestones (sales, chart positions, etc) that these artists and their songs have achieved. He then announced that they have agreed with NBC to do the iHeartRadio Awards again (mark your calendars: Sunday 3/29/15) and talked about how the event seriously affects sales percentages for artists who perform. There were too many programmers to name, and the party was a huge success. I was strongly impressed by the company’s overall forward thinking. And again, the labels were very well represented. Rick Sackhiem and Noah Sheer from Def Jam, Gary Spangler and Davey Dee from Republic, John Strazza and Inca from RCA, Lee L’Heureux from Warner Bros., Ayelet Schiffman from Columbia, Todd Glassman, Sujit Kundu and Lil Jon from Epic and Franco Iemello from Capitol all showed their support… I’m now on my way up to Atlantic City for the Promo Only DJ Expo. There will be a number of artists performing, along with Rhythm and Top 40 PDs from around the country. I’ll give all the details in my column next week… Now, I’ll run down this week’s music happenings in a broader way than usual, going over the chart itself beyond individual labels. RCA’s Tinashe holds on to the #1 slot for yet another week with “2 On” f/Schoolboy Q. Meanwhile, it’s really shaping up to be a dogfight for the coveted spot next week, as Kid Ink’s “Main Chick” (RCA), Nico & Vinz’s “Am I Wrong” (Warner Bros.) and Def Jam’s Jeremih f/YG’s “Don’t Tell Em” are all within 50 spins of each other on the building chart… The amazing success of Capitol’s Sam Smith continues; he now has two records in the Top 10. Columbia’s T.I. sits just outside of the Top 10, while Grand Hustle/Def Jam’s Iggy Azalea has another strong week with “Black Widow” f/Rita Ora… RCA’s Chris Brown f/Usher & Rick Ross “New Flame” moves to #17, and Epic’s Lil Jon slides into the Top 25 with “Bend Ova...” Jessie J + Ariana Grande + Nicki Minaj’s “Bang Bang” (Lava/Republic) increases over 375 spins, while Nicki Minaj’s “Anaconda” is the biggest debut and is Most Increased this week. Speaking of which, she was a part of three of the Top 5 Most Increased records this week! They also impacted Drake’s “0-100.” Look for Beyoncé f/Nicki Minaj’s “Flawless” (Columbia) to have a great debut next week. Also keep an eye on Meghan Trainor’s “All About That Bass” (Epic), which is sure to have a great impact week.

Most Increased:
1) Nicki Minaj “Anaconda” YMCMB/Republic
2) Jeremih f/YG “Don’t Tell Em” Def Jam
3) Sam Smith “Stay With Me” Capitol
4) Beyoncé f/Nicki Minaj “Flawless” Columbia
5) Jessie J + Ariana Grande + Nicki Minaj “Bang Bang” Lava/Republic

The Pulse:
1) Nicki Minaj “Anaconda” YMCMB/Republic
2) Jessie J + Ariana Grande + Nicki Minaj “Bang Bang” Lava/Republic
3) Chris Brown f/Usher & Rick Ross “New Flame” RCA
4) Beyoncé f/Nicki Minaj “Flawless” Columbia
5) Meghan Trainor “All About That Bass” Epic